LeBron breaks Jordan’s double-digit points streak record
LOS ANGELES: With a firstquarter dunk against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night, LeBron James recorded his 867th consecutive regular-season game with at least 10 points, breaking Michael Jordan’s all-time record.
The home crowd gave James a raucous standing ovation as he saluted the fans and handed the game ball to a staff member to take to the locker room.
“Any time I’m in the same group as the greats of this game, that’s very humbling knowing where I come from,” James told ESPN’s Adam Schefter after the game.
“I grew up 30 minutes south of here (Akron, Ohio) where statistics were not for us, and not for me.
“So for me to continue to be an inspiration to the youth and be able to do what I do on the floor, it means a lot for me in that sense.”
James tied the record Wednesday on MJ’s own court, against the Jordan-owned Charlotte Hornets.
Jordan’s streak spanned from March 25, 1986, during his second season in the league, to December 26, 2001, which was 26 games into his first season with the Washington Wizards after spending the previous three years in retirement.
It came to an end with Jordan scoring six points in 25 minutes on 2-for-10 shooting in a 27-point loss to the Indiana Pacers.
The last time James failed to score at least 10 points in a game was January 5, 2007, when he had eight points in 43 minutes on 3-for-13 shooting against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Now a 15-year veteran, he was in his fourth NBA season at the time.
James has twice kept his streak alive with exactly 10 points, once in October 2007 and once this past January.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ranks third all-time with a 787-game streak than ran from December 1977 to December 1987.
The next-longest active streak belongs to James Harden, with 258 games.
During his streak, James has twice scored fewer than 10 points in a playoff game, both times with the Miami Heat.
He tallied eight points in Game 4 of the NBA Finals in 2011 and seven in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals in 2014.
Jordan never finished a playoff game with fewer than 10 points. — Field Level Media/Reuters
Any time I’m in the same group as the greats of this game, that’s very humbling knowing where I come from. — LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers forward